Migraines

Has she considered pregnancy as a means of prevention?

 

I get about one a month. When I do, it's always focused directly behind my left eye. Thats the easiest way for me to tell its a migraine coming vesus any other headache. I've likened it to having a tiny demon playing my optic nerve like a guitar, and I've threatened many times to scoop that eye out with a spoon, because I'm confident that would hurt less. I get nausea, but have never vomited. I get super sensitive to light though. I yelled at my microwave once because the digital display was too bright during one.

Not sure on triggers, though I think synthetic heat is a cause. By synthetic heat, I mean furnace or car heater. I get them more frequently in winter and I always feel better when I step outside into the cold, though once I come back inside, it returns. Also, staring at the computer/TV too long seems to do it too. And fluorescent lighting... I get a lot at work, obviously.

I take Excedrin, then if that doesn't work, I have Imitrex, which has only failed to work once in about 8 years. I've had them since middle school, but only diagnosed the past 8 years or so. Good luck.

 

I had severe migraines in the early 1990s. One about every three days, repeatedly, over two years.

I was taking Prednisone (steroid) for about four years straight. The only way I was battling the migraines was to take pretty powerful painkillers, like Tylenol with codeine, etc. I would take a pill, and within 30 minutes, I could feel my hands get tingly and numb, and I knew the pill had taken effect. The only problem was that the pill wore off after 3 hours, and I was only supposed to take one every 4 hours. So, I would suffer for that fourth hour, literally watching the clock so that I could take the next pill. So, 1.5 hours of pain, 2.5 hours of relief. Repeat. Suffer.

Finally I saw a neurologist, and he had me search for triggers. I didn't find anything. But he also got me off the major narcotic painkillers. He told me I was having "drug rebound" headaches. The painkiller would temporarily stop the current headache, but it would also have side effects that would cause me to have my next headache three days later. This was a vicious cycle.

So, he gave me a drug called Phrenelin instead. I think it has Tylenol, some caffeine and a low dose barbituate in it. It works. I don't have the drug rebound situation anymore, and after breaking that cycle, my headaches became much more infrequent.

But, I was still having them occasionally, and they were severe enough to go to the hospital to get a Demerol shot, so I went back to searching for triggers.

My wife (now ex) broke me out of bad bachelorhood practices - namely, my routine breakfast of two pop tarts and a glass of chocolate milk made from Nestle's Quik. I didn't realize it at the time, but she was keeping me from eating chocolate very often anymore.

Then I went on work travel, stayed at a hotel with no breakfast but they had a Bob Evants next door. So, we ate there, and I slammed about four hot chocolates with my breakfast. That afternoon, I felt like I had been hit in the head with an axe. The Phrenelin couldn't keep up with it, so I resorted to my second line of defense - take an Ambien sleeping pill and sleep the headache off. After thinking about what happened, "what did I do on this trip that I have not been doing at home?", I figured out the Bob Evans hot chocolate.

I didn't want to believe it, because I was 35 and had eaten chocolate all my life, so why did I develop a sensitivity to it? Maybe the Prednisone, maybe just changing biochemistry as we age.

Still, over the next year, I sampled a bit of chocolate just twice to test the theory, and BOTH times I wound up in the emergency room getting a Demerol shot to get out of my misery. So, three data points was enough to convince me. No more chocolate, at all. Period. My worst migraines are long gone. I still have milder ones, but the ones that put me in the ER are gone.

Sorry for the long story. Just wanted to point out how subtle some triggers are to identify.

And my lines of defense are 1) to strike with phrenelin early if I feel one coming on, 2) continue with the phrenelin every four hours, and 3) if it is still bad in the evening, take the Ambien and sleep it off.

Warning: Ambien does cause amnesia in some folks. I've done it repeatedly, and it is a bit scary, but I will save that story for later. I have never driven on Ambien, but when I hear famous people screw up and the news mentions Ambien, I believe it the story 100% because I have been there - not behind the wheel of a car or anything, but totally functional for about an hour with no recall at all the next day. Scary.

Hope this helps. Sorry for the long post.
VB

 

I think it's one of the reasons I've given up writing so often too. I've always struggled with missing small words in my story because my brain works faster than my hands, but now I'm screwing up words. Know/now, one/one, there/then, think/thing -- all these little words I'm tripping over. I'm just too worried about making a big mistake.

Rusty, I get the pressure right behind your eye too. I have a pressure point behind my right eye and one in the upper right part of my neck. My neurologist suggested that I try acupuncture, which I'm doing in a few weeks.

 

Vombatus' story about chocolate was an eye-opener for me. The princess was stunned when the neurologist said to watch her chocolate intake. I don't think she eats a shitload of chocolate, but like most kids, she'll eat it if given the chance.

Cocoa isn't considered chocolate, is it?

 

I think cocoa is different, but I avoid it like the plague just the same.

Also, those last two major migraines that sent me to the ER involved a ridiculously small amount of chocolate - like just one bite of a chocolate candy bar, and BOOM, about four hours later I felt like my head was exploding.

I hope you all do better. Migraines suck.

 

When I was in my 20s, I had a male roommate who suffered from migraines.

When I was in my 30s, I had a GF who suiffered from them.

Now, I know a coworker who suffers.

My sympathies.


Interesting article:
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/08/why-do-women-get-more-migraines.html

 

I do think a lot of people confuse headaches and migraines. If your solution is to take some pain medicine and sleep it off, it probably is not a migraine.

 

I agree. I don't get many headaches, but when I do, a nice nap mixed with generic Aleve solves it usually.

For my daughter, though, throwing up after complaining of a headache so bad she's in tears I would classify as a migraine.

 

There is a major difference in how you sleep it off. My earlier comment was based on experience. With a full blown migraine, I basically have to be put out of misery by getting unconscious for awhile. Demerol from the ER was one way to do it. Ambien is another, and far cheaper than going to the ER. Plus you can carry it with you and use when needed.

 

Hey kingcreole,

Just another thought for your daughter, and not one that will probably make a huge difference right now, but as she gets older ... sleep. It's so important. If I go more than a couple days without adequate rest, I am guaranteed a migraine. Exhaustion really is an automatic trigger, and every doctor I have ever seen about my headaches has always cautioned me about that. It's the first question they ask: "How much sleep are you getting?" Eight hours really needs to be the norm for migraine sufferers, especially women, I think.

 

Agreed. Much more prone to these when I haven't slept well, though in my case I sometimes wonder if the migraine is the cause of the lack of sleep or vice versa.